I looked at the Dungeon Fantasy RPG with the thought of buying it. Knowing that shipping costs can be a bit steep me and a friend have voiced the idea of sharing the shipping costs to get it here.

So, I added two copies of the boxed set to my cart and a short while later I saw the shipping costs. There were three options ranging from $87.06 to $102.90, being curious I looked further into the shipping methods. The slowest of these promised to get the stuff to me in 5 working days.

This all lead to a thought. I can be patient and am very prepared to wait for more that 5 days to get the stuff I order online. Have you guys looked into slower shipping options that might not be as expensive?

A few years ago, the cheap small-scale options for international post from the USA stopped being available. It's not just Warehouse 23 - nobody seems to have a good option any more. This is part of why so many Kickstarters now offer reshipping from inside the destination country or customs area: doing a bulk shipment that's then broken up for final delivery is simply much cheaper, if there's enough volume to justify it. (Lower thresholds for customs charges are the other part.)

It's a shame Warehouse 23 now offers very poor value to international customers, but I don't think there's much SJGames can do about it.

Your best option is to visit your local game store. Games shipped internationally to distributors go on pallets loaded into containers, greatly reducing the per item expense of shipping.

Overall, shipping costs have increased over the last five to ten years. Shipping from the US to other nations, though, have increased far more dramatically than US address to US address costs. Add to that any local fees, and you are better off finding a local store than ordering online.

We offer international shipping for those who prefer to order direct. We do not control the rates, though, and work within the options we are given that suit our requirements.

Trust me, the FLGS here is not ordering pallets of stuff. They'll order at most 5-ish copies and I doubt the shipping costs would go down very much in that case.

Yeah, but the distributor does order pallets. That's why, in the UK, almost all games shops (including many of the on-line ones) go through the biggest distributor, Esdevium - it's much cheaper than direct importing at low volume.

M-Bags have special restrictions on the types of items that are deliverable, and most games do not fall into the categories. It is intended for "media" such as magazines, journals, newspaper, etc. Promotional items are possible, so some Munchkin stuff (and other SJG items) may qualify (bookmarks, specifically) but boxed games... not so much. Unless one wishes to falsify Customs documents (not suggesting it.)

Technically, even thin RPG material, such as the plethora of supplements and accessories for GURPS (and other games) is not supposed to be delivered via M-Bag. Similar to the rules for "media mail."

Yeah, but the distributor does order pallets. That's why, in the UK, almost all games shops (including many of the on-line ones) go through the biggest distributor, Esdevium - it's much cheaper than direct importing at low volume.

There is one FLGS in the country. Nearest distributor would likely be Esdevium.

I just find the options available from DHL/FedEX/USPS odd. You can get the stuff ship fast and expensive or not at all.

Correct. There's no "take forever to ship this cheaply" option for international shipping except when dealing with bulk rates (e.g., with distributors).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Žorkell

There is one FLGS in the country. Nearest distributor would likely be Esdevium.

And shipping from the UK to Iceland is far cheaper than shipping from the USA to Iceland. (According to the Royal Mail site, one can ship a 1 kg game there for as little as 8.60 GBP.) That's why your FLGS no doubt orders from a local* distributor like Esdevium, and why using local* options is going to give you much better shipping options than ordering direct from the USA.

* If not truly local, at least close enough to offer reasonable shipping choices.

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